The New Bern Board of Aldermen passed a 2013-14 city budget Tuesday night that does not call for a property tax increase but does increase fees on garbage collection and city graveyards.

Aldermen approved the budget without discussion after delaying adoption at the last meeting to get more information.

Alderman Bernard White, who had questions at the last meeting about some of the appropriations along with Aldermen Sabrina Bengel and Dana Outlaw, said he was satisfied.

“I think y’all did a pretty good job,” Outlaw said.

Bengel, Mayor Lee Bettis and Alderman Johnnie Ray Kinsey also praised Keith Fiaschetti, the finance director, for answering their questions, which mostly related to funding for the Fire Department to hire volunteer firefighters.

The new budget includes a hike in garbage pickup fees by $3.75 per month; a 7 percent increase in most fees for permits and inspections through development services; and an increased in holiday openings and closings at city cemeteries from $400 for residents and $700 for nonresidents to $500 for residents and $800 for nonresidents.

Aldermen approved an increase of $10,077 on top of the city manager’s recommended budget of $4,123 for Allies for Cherry Point Tomorrow, or ACT, for a lobbyist to promote the airbase on Capital Hill. The increases will come from contingency funds.

The $43,560 that was recommended for the merger of the volunteer fire organization with the city fire department was broken down into line items that include $12,000 for part-time salaries plus $2,366 in fringe benefits, leaving a balance of $29,194, reports show.

The budget also provides funding for a $27,501 increase for the governing board, from a current budget of $309,076 to $336,577. The money will be used to pay the $10,077 increase to Allies for Cherry Point Tomorrow and Highway 17 Board and also reflects a small increase in the clerk’s salary. ACT and the Highway 17 Board were taken out of special appropriations this year and put in the governing board line item. Aldermen are also paid out of the governing board line item and did not receive raises from current budget. The city’s administration fund will increase $68,600 from a current budget of $512,768 to $581,368.

As a last-minute budget revision to the current 2012-13 budget, aldermen approved an increase of $15,000 to the city’s legal service to cover legal fees involving a lawsuit filed by Robert Raynor, a former alderman, against the city involving health insurance for life he and a former board once voted for themselves. Last year, the legal department was appropriated the same as this year, $203,364.

An additional $5,000 was added for new weather alert features to the city’s Code RED system. There were also changes in the water, sewer and electric funds to pay off debts and interests on loans and to increase funding to the phase II portion of the Neuse Boulevard water main project with funds left over from the first phase of the project.

Page 2 of 2 - Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at eddie.fitzgerald@newbernsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.